PHILADELPHIA — Baseball just took one big step closer to a lockout ahead of the 2027 season as Rob Manfred continues his tour around Major League Baseball to talk to players about a potential salary cap and get them on his side.

Leader of the Phillies clubhouse, Bryce Harper, told Manfred to “get the fuck out of our clubhouse” when Manfred brought the idea of a salary cap to the Phillies players. It is becoming more and more clear where baseball is heading — a lockout. The current MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is set to expire on December 1st, 2026, and the players association and the owners will being negotiating on a new CBA, and some of the owners are advocating for a salary cap, and a salary floor, which the players association does not want.

In my opinion, Baseball does not need a salary cap, but they do need a salary floor. The issue in Baseball is that certain teams (Pirates, Athletics, Marlins, Rockies, Rays, etc.) don’t spend money or try to win and they blame other owners because they spend a lot of money, even though they benefit from teams spending because of the luxury tax penalties.

Teams like the Yankees, Phillies, Dodgers and Mets have the right to spend money, and should not be penalized for doing so, it is their right. Instead of restricting teams from spending money, a salary floor would force some of the bottom feeders to spend some money on players and possibly close the gap between the bottom and the top of the spending.

(Top Image Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports)